Hinrichs returned — at less than 100 percent — on Jan. 27, and Lafayette's losing streak reached 11 in a row.

"He was rusty, out of condition, not in the flow," O'Hanlon said of Hinrichs' play in last Wednesday's loss to visiting Colgate. "That's not to be unexpected. You have to go through it to come out on the other side."

O'Hanlon has been on the other side, so he wasn't totally shocked with what happened when Lafayette lost its best player, its anchor who provides floor balance and stability as much as points.

The Lafayette coach had the same injury when he played professionally in Sweden after his college career ended at Villanova.

His Hageby Basketball Club team recovered to have a decent season after his return six weeks later, but it didn't meet preseason expectations.

It remains to be seen if Lafayette can reach the lofty goals it set during workouts last fall.

"We want to get back to the championship game and have a different outcome," Hinrichs said.

Despite being reduced to a spectator for just the second time in his basketball playing days — he missed one game as a high school freshman because of the flu — Hinrichs said his toughest days came after the 2013 tournament final at Bucknell.

He said coming that close to the goal of making the NCAA Tournament was difficult to get past.

The 2013-14 season has been a rough one for all Leopards. Only two — Joey Ptasinski and Nick Lindner — have played in all 21 games entering tonight's game at Bucknell. No one has started every contest.

In addition to Hinrichs (who has 951 career points) missing time, sophomore guard Zach Rufer didn't dress for four games because of a concussion and another with a quad injury, and junior forward Alan Flannigan missed four games with a left knee injury.

Several freshmen have been thrown into the fire. Monty Boykins, who was slow to get playing time because of his recovery from a torn ACL suffered late in his high school career, and Michael Hoffman were forced to grow up a little faster.

Lafayette will be better for that in the future.

As for now, the Leopards are trying to string together victories in an effort to get out of the Patriot League basement.

They have never won at Bucknell's Sojka Pavilion. That's what stands in their way of a two-game winning streak after a strong second-half run last Saturday against Navy ended their lengthy losing streak.

Lafayette has been on both sides of the fence before in early February. It overcame slow starts to league play by finishing strong and reaching the league title game. It has been super in the first half of the regular season only to sputter out.

"I'm hoping this is the time, the yin and the yang, when we have a better second half," O'Hanlon said. "We better have a better second half."